The third call's the charm for UFC 161's James Krause

For a while now, Krause (19-4 MMA, 0-0 UFC) has been considered one of the best fighters around not signed to a major promotion. But the UFC took care of that earlier this week when Krause stepped in for an injured Isaac Vallie-Flagg to meet Sam Stout (20-8-1 MMA, 8-7 UFC) at UFC 161 in two weeks.

It wasn’t the first time Krause had gotten the call from the UFC. But this time, he was ready.

“They’ve called me about three times now, all in the past six months,” Krause told MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio). “They wanted me to fight Yves Edwards, and I took the fight – but they had him fight Jeremy Stephens. Then they wanted me to fight Norman Parke, but it was six days’ notice, and it was too much weight for me to cut – 28 pounds. Even if I’d have made the weight, I’d have fought like crap, I probably would’ve lost, and nobody would get to see my true skill set.

“I didn’t want to sell myself short and I wanted everyone to see what I’m all about. I told Joe Silva if you call again, I’ll be ready. I’ve been training like I’ve had a fight, and I had a feeling something like this would happen.”

UFC 161 takes place June 15 at MTS Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on FX and Facebook. The Krause-Stout lightweight bout is part of the FX prelims.

Krause has some big-time experience in the WEC and Bellator, and that’s where three of his four losses have come. His two-fight stint in the WEC saw him drop fights to Donald Cerrone and Ricardo Lamas. In Bellator, he lost to Toby Imada. All three of those would be considered forgivable losses.

But now he’s riding a seven-fight win streak that includes five stoppages. In January, he took a unanimous decision from Imada in their rematch under the Resurrection Fighting Alliance banner.

But for Krause, answering the call and being ready to finally get a shot in the UFC was a no-brainer.

“I always liked fighting for Titan, WEC, RFA … but at the end of the day, if you’re not in this sport to be at the top, I don’t know why you’re doing it,” he said. “There are guys who are extremely susccessful outside the UFC. But that’s always been my goal. The ultimate goal was to be in the UFC one day.”

Krause said if not for the weight cut being too brutal, he wouldn’t be on his third call from the UFC. He’d have fought on one of the previous short-notice calls that came his way.

Turning it down because he was too big was not something he wanted to repeat if the call came again.

“It was real hard for me, but (saying no) was something I had to do,” Krause said. “I would’ve been right back to where I was before. I kind of beat myself up over it, but I walk around between 180-185. It sucked I weighed that much, so immediately I started getting my weight down. But I can’t sit there and dwell on it, and I’m not going to beat myself up over it.”

Instead, he got back in shape, pretending the call was going to come. And it did. And when it did, he was a big fan of the name he was hearing on the other end of the line.

Stout has won four of his past six and six of his past nine, and a win over a veteran like him in his UFC debut could put a of attention on Krause.

“The style matchup, I like a lot,” he said. “It’ll be a good fight. He’s shorter, and he doesn’t have a lot of power. He goes to decision a lot. We liked it for the fact it’ll be a good fight to showcase my skills. (There will be) high-volume punches, and he matches up real well for me. I’m sure he’s working hard, as am I, and that’s why we fight – to figure all this out.”

But Krause’s mind was made up that he’d love to figure things out with Stout, or whoever else they’d ever have in mind, the minute the call came in.

“It was pretty instantaneous,” he said. “I talked to my manager and got back to (the UFC) within a half-hour. There are other people along the ride with me, so to be respectful I had to consult those guys. But I loved the matchup instantly – in my head, the decision was already made.”

MMAjunkie.com Radio broadcasts Monday-Friday at noon ET (9 a.m. PT) live from Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino’s Race & Sports Book. The show is hosted by “Gorgeous” George Garcia, MMAjunkie.com lead staff reporter John Morgan and producer Brian “Goze” Garcia. For more information or to download past episodes, go to www.mmajunkie.com/radio.

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